Who can still afford to live in Bucharest?
A historian, a researcher who is a member of a European housing working group, and an architect discuss how we got here, what is changing at the European level, and the role professionals play in building a city where decent housing is within everyone’s reach. A discussion about why access to social and affordable housing affects us all and why we need public policies to address this issue.
The discussion will feature Marina Batog, Claudia Pamfil, Irina Zamfirescu and Răzvan Voinea.
Admission is free with a ticket valued at 0, subject to availability.
Marina Batog is an economist specialising in urban planning and local economic development. Over the past 20 years, she has worked extensively at the grassroots level in Romania, supporting communities through participatory strategic planning processes. She has also collaborated with organisations such as UNDP, the World Bank and the Council of Europe on the design and evaluation of national and local public policies in integrated planning, urban regeneration and housing. She is the co-founder and current coordinator of MKBT, an NGO established in 2016 and dedicated to innovation in urban regeneration practices in Romania. MKBT currently has three strategic areas of focus, one of which is access to adequate and affordable housing.
Claudia Pamfil is an urban planner, architect and expert in participatory processes. At the Bucharest Metropolitan Area Intercommunity Development Association (ADIZMB), she coordinates a team that supports the development of public policies and spatial development strategies through urban analysis and GIS data. She contributes to the European “Compact Cities” Partnership, bringing perspectives on Bucharest’s metropolitan challenges, from uncontrolled urban sprawl to housing affordability. She is Vice-President of the Romanian Professional Association of Urban Planners (APUR), an associate lecturer at the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, a founding member of the De-a Arhitectura Association, and a member of the International Union of Architects’ Architecture and Children Programme. Through built environment education programmes, she promotes critical thinking and civic responsibility among children, believing that the future of cities depends on the knowledge and involvement of their residents.
Irina Zamfirescu is a lecturer at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, University of Bucharest. Most of her research takes the form of engaged anthropology within vulnerable communities. Her interests include social justice, and she works alongside the communities affected by extreme poverty that she studies, pursuing advocacy initiatives to improve the quality of life of people experiencing homelessness and families living in informal settlements. She is also involved in research investigating practices of coexistence in multi-ethnic communities.
She has been selected to join the European Commission’s new Housing Advisory Board.
Răzvan Voinea is a historian with a degree from the Faculty of History and a PhD in Architecture (Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, 2018). He is the author of The Ideal of Housing in Bucharest: The Family with a House and Garden. The Developments of the Municipal Society for Affordable Housing – Bucharest (1908–1948), Housing for Workers and Civil Servants: Casa Construcțiilor and the Vatra Luminoasă Development (1933–1949), Inventory of Workers’ Sports and Recreation Facilities in Bucharest.
